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Get a Wii MotionPlus add-on for $12.99

It's extremely rare to find this coveted accessory selling for less than the $20 list price.

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
Rick Broida
2 min read
The Wii MotionPlus adds greater sensitivity to your Wii controller, a huge plus in games that support it. Meritline

Want to upgrade your Wii controllers with the coveted MotionPlus accessory? Walk into any Best Buy or Target and you'll pay $20 for the privilege. If you have four controllers, well, that's an $80 bill (plus sales tax) you could probably live without.

If you're willing to go the knockoff route, Meritline has unbranded Wii MotionPlus add-ons for $12.99 shipped. At least, I think they're unbranded. Nowhere on the product page does the word Nintendo appear.

On the other hand, they sure look just like the real deal, with the replacement silicone case and everything. In fact, comparing the photos with a Nintendo-made MotionPlus I have right here, I'm hard-pressed to detect any difference.

That said, be sure to read the user comments. Although the initial complaints have to do with the pricing (apparently Meritline used to charge more than $20), one user said the lock "does not lock well." Another said the "item didn't have packaging," again suggesting a knockoff. But other reviews were quite positive.

For me this is a tough call. I don't like the limited amount of product information supplied by Meritline. But I do like the price. If you're a hardcore Wii player and you own (or at least plan to rent) some MotionPlus-friendly games, it's probably worth rolling the dice on at least one of these. For the record, $12.99 is the lowest price I've ever seen on a Wii MotionPlus, branded or otherwise.

Bonus deal: Dell has a 21.5-inch LCD monitor for $141.75 shipped (plus tax in some states). That's after applying coupon code 9$8ZHJS1VGGRMR. The ST2210 features 1920 x 1080 resolution (a.k.a. 1080p), three inputs (VGA, DVI, and HDMI), and audio line-in/line-out jacks for some reason.